Help me decide what to do re decorating rental property

[MaHeidMaHeid]

I am currently in a privately rented flat, it's cheap enough but absolutely disgusting. The walls are patchy, grubby, need plastered badly, old 70s wallpaper in the hallway that my granny would have been proud of the kitchen is falling to pieces, the drawers don't work, I've got a massive mouse issue in the kitchen because all units are on the floor, so I've nowhere else to store food. There is obviously a hole somewhere and they are getting in. I've blocked up everything I can see and have been asking LL for months to sort it but nothing yet although he has promised to come tomorrow to see to the issue with the mice. He has made it clear he will not be replacing the kitchen or the flooring in the house which is also on its last legs. The carpet in the hall is just awful,smelly and dirty and the laminate that's everywhere else is broken and just done. What pisses me off is my LL owns a large building company and has several properties that he rents out. The other properties (the ones I know of, friends rent from him also) are lovely and all modern. All work was carried out before they moved in but this one hasn't been touched and it's just so bloody depressing because no matter how much i clean it still looks grubby and I am far too embarrassed to have people round because of the state the house is in. I stupidity agreed to take the house before I viewed it because I was a week away from being homeless due to my previous LL needing their property back. Council couldn't help me so I took the first private let I could find. I am on partial housing benefit so it limits my options massively.

I now have a decision to make - should I spend a few hundred pounds decorating this flat or save a few hundred pounds and move again? The problem with moving is finding a private let that will accept housing benefit tenants and is also affordable. This house is a fairly secure let too, it's highly unlikely I'll ever have to leave and could stay here potentially for years.

I want to replace all internal doors (with bog standard white homebase ones) paint everywhere with the possibility of hanging lining paper in the hall and stair hall first, replace kitchen flooring with vinyl and replace living room laminate with carpet. I also will be replacing the carpet in the hall. This will be done on a budget, but I reckon I can do it for £500 ish. I've already asked about the carpets and he said if I buy them he will get one of his employees to fit them.

It still leaves the big problem of a kitchen that's at least 20 years old and half broken. The counter tops are all cut and stained and like I said before the cupboards are all on the floor so makes storing food, glasses, plates etc difficult especially with a 2 year old running around.

What should I do?

Spend the money and get this house nice?

Or save a deposit and keep looking for something else bearing in mind it could take months before something is available?

Sorry that was really long and there was no need for that

How would you feel about the flat if it was up to scratch? I mean, is the area good, handy for work, decent schools, good public transport etc. If everything else about it is positive, then it's worth some serious consideration.

You say it's a fairly secure let. How do you know? Do you have a long-term lease? If not, then you are not secure, despite what the LL says.

It sounds like he's amenable to improvements which will not cost him money. So why not offer to refit the kitchen if he will offer you a new 5 year tenancy? No sense in risking spending money for the benefit of another tenant, who the LL can then charge more rent for the flat that you have renovated.

You can get some bargain kitchens being taken out of houses for refits. Have a look on Gumtree and local selling pages, FB etc. Maybe the LL would offer to get one of his tradesmen to fit it for you?

Or could you repair and repaint the existing cupboards, and maybe put up some shelves and plate racks at high level to give you more storage?

Sorry, it's a house, not a flat - must read more carefully

Do not improve this charlatan's property at your own cost. You have no idea about the security of your tenancy and might spend the money and then be evicted after the original tenancy period has expired. Unfortunately this is a harsh lesson learned for not having viewed before agreeing to take the place.

You want pest control not your landlord to deal with the mice. A decent landlord would act immediately to have them dealt with, not make you wait for months before acting.

CQ is wrong to advise you to ask for a 5 year tenancy - the longest AST you can have is 3 years. Please save your money for a new place. No one should be paying to live in a shithole. Don't line this person's pockets for any longer than you have to. I am willing to bet he couldn't believe his luck you took it without viewing and now thinks you are desperate and will therefore put up with anything, saving him money.

If your landlord doesn't deal with the mouse problem immediately and properly (proper pest control company) then contact environmental health. I would call in a pest control contractor myself (for speed) but get something in writing from them detailing how bad the problem is so that I can prove to environmental health that the landlord isn't dealing with basic and significant problems.
I also wouldn't spend any money renovating this property otherwise the landlord will negate his responsibility on all maintenance issues with the expectancy that you will sort it yourself. For example: if the boiler packed in, he might expect you to repair / replace it.
Don't set a precedent of fixing major problems yourself (bar the mouse issue as that is more urgent). Mice breed alarmingly quickly so I would deal with that ASAP.

Oh no save and move out! Do not spend your money and time doing up his flat, he could evict you in a few short months. If you do anything then limit it to painting the rooms that can be painted as that's a cheap and easy way to freshen up a room.

Do not spend money on that house, you may as well throw it away! there is no such thing as a secure rental tenancy. I say this as a landlord!!

The moment you renovate the house, he will find a reason to get you out and rerent it to someone at a higher rate. Don't do it.

Talk to him he might be really happy to reduce rent in return for new doors keep receipts and offer them to him he can then claim as exp and you both benefit. The mouse issue is non negotiable he has to deal with that.

Don't spend money on this house.
And really don't spend your money on a kitchen for this person.
So what if might take months to find somewhere else.
The alternative is spending cash on the place and then being handed your notice.

I agree with others. No point in spending too much money, but you do need to make it livable.
However, how long is your tenancy? How long are you going to have to put up with this for? Chances are it's going to be a while because as you say it's hard to find somewhere that takes HB.
As for the mouse problem I would get some large lidded plastic storage boxes to store food in. Yes the LL should be putting it right etc but this will keep you going in the short term.
Bollocks to replacing the doors. I personally would get a tin of cheap emulsion and gloss and paint stuff. That shouldn't cost much and will make it so you can stand it until you can move.

Thanks for all your replies they have helped me realise that I probably would be throwing money away. It would take me so long to get it sorted I might as well save for somewhere else.

The flat is in a nice area, my neighbours are great but I suppose the decor is just the start of the problems. There is no boiler in the house because there is no gas in the house. I have no heating, the electric storage heaters are all broken and only 1 panel heater in the dds room works so I'm going to have issues in the winter. He knows they don't work, sent out an electrician who couldn't fix them because the heaters were older than he was and I haven't heard anything since. I am not sure what I'm going to do in the winter. He said just to buy some oil filled radiators.

I suppose I just got carried away with wanting a nice place to live, my other rental properties were lovely it's just this one that's a total dump and yeah I've learned an expensive lesson about not viewing before I agreed a lease but I was desperate.

My original lease was just 6 months and that is until November. After that, I'm not sure.

He says someone is coming out today regarding the mice so I'll wait and see. The cupboards are covered in droppings again and I only scrubbed them out on Saturday

Email him again about the heating. Tell him this still needs fixing.
Then contact shelter for advice. Honestly don't think he is acting legally there. And he is on drugs if he thinks you should buy radiators.

I'm in your boat, literally;
Mice - yes
Kitchen older than me - yes
Falling apart floor - yes
Mismatch walls - yes
Grubby looking house, not through lack of cleaning just because it's really old. - yes

I've taken the opposite advise to the sensible and correct advise. I've had the walls plastered, retiled, and painted.
It's not sensible (it's not right that I'm left to do it either) but it's also my home, for at least the next 2 months it's my home. It made me miserable. So I bought a few pots of paint and did it. I do what I can myself (and have actually made a much better job than the LL) and got tilers and plasterers in for those bits. As soon as the kids are back at school I'm repainting the living room as the mould isn't cleaning off anymore. Dh wants to get new carpet, I'm drawing the line at that as we've had to spend a lot on the property & garden in the past 6 months on maintenance (think thousands)

So in short I would (I have and I will!) do it, but do it wisely. I had to replaster as it was falling off the walls and I had bloody great holes. If it was just rough, I would just paint it. I re vinyled the bathroom as the carpet stank and held the damp. It was cheap and easy to do myself.
If your sure your as secure as you can be, I'd do it myself, do it cheaply (but not cheap bodged) and enjoy your home.

The house doesn't even sound habitable. Isn't there a dept at the local council that deal with substandard rental properties and slum landlords?

I don't have heating or working storage heaters either!!!
dont buy oil filled ones
You will be on economy 7 which means you are on an expensive daytime tariff and cheap after 11ish in the winter.
So the time you need the heat (day and evening) is the most expensive time to run the heating.
My first winter here last year cost me £300 a month, I didn't get it over 12 degrees, it was fucking cold.

Scrap my previous post, save and move!!! It will save you in the long term.

is this a flat or a house? If it's a house I would bet he's got plans to renovate/extend etc and doesn't want to throw money away on things that will be replaced. Especially as his other properties are nice. Not dealing with the rodent problem is a disgrace though. Find somewhere else.

It's a flat sorry I didn't make it clear in my op.

I have been advised to go to the council regarding the heating/rodent problem but I am scared he then evicts me and I'm left homeless again and back at square one regarding taking the first thing I can find.

It really is making me miserable, it's horrible sitting in a house that's just disgusting and grubby and I will definitely have to think about what I'm going to do sooner rather than later because I can't afford that kind of electricity bill and I need the house warm for dds and myself.

I know I'm lucky I've got a roof over my head but when I'm paying a fair whack every month in rent for a property that's falling to bits it's depressing and not helping my depression because I can't relax or enjoy being at home.

As your on HB there are a number of schemes which he can use to get heating fitted cheaply for you.
But to be honest I would just save your breath and try and find somewhere else.
I'm guessing your on a rolling 2 month contract, so he has to give you 2 months notice from your rent due date and you 1 to him. I'd try and be out before winter. Deal with the mice via the council if today doesn't help.
But I wouldn't involve environmental health for the heating, as like you say you don't want to be forced to go until your ready.

As a side note he has to provide you heating so he 'should' be buying the oil filled heaters for you. Depends how far you want to push that though.

This landlord is a crook. There is legislation coming in to prevent revenge evictions by landlords, but please don't worry about that. If he evicted you, you wouldn't be intentionally homeless and could ask the local authority for housing assistance. But, please speak to Shelter who can properly advise you on what you can do, your rights, etc.

OP you are not on a rolling two month contract - that just doesn't exist - your initial tenancy ends in November. You could choose to simply move out in November when this tenancy is up. If you stay then you need to give one month's notice to quit.

I would concentrate on finding somewhere to live before you have to spend winter in a freezing, damp hovel while paying for the 'privilege'. If he fails to deal with the mice then you can contact Environmental Health who have powers to deal with this sort of thing.

Sorry I misread it when I was twittering on about rolling contracts. I read it that your 6 months was already up. Ignore that bit then!

Now I've read about the lack of heating my advice is to assume you are going to move come November and put everything in place to get that sorted.

My last house only had storage heaters and we used oil filled heaters. We ran up huge electricity bills, when we moved I had £900 outstanding. You will be cold beyond your imagination. We could stand it as we were two adults but there is no way I would have let a child live in my house.
I implore you to move yourself and your child out of that house. Living with constant cold is something that is hard to comprehend until you have done it.

MOVE.

wowfudge cq is right about a five year lease. My solicitor suggested I offered my tenants five year repairing leases, meaning the tenants were responsible for the repairs. For one tenant this would have been a good idea as he is very good at diy but the other one is a bit of a dead loss where handyman skills are concerned so I didn't go down that route.

DO NOT spend one penny doing up this property !

start looking for somewhere better to live pronto !

to be thinking about replacing internal doors that is just crazy & how would you hang them ?

keep all food in sealed tins, tupperware boxes, if they are hungry they will eat anything eg carpet, cables etc

get a mouse trap or several, there are different sorts